In The Hockey News (12/17/12 issue), they look at Brady Skjei and write “His M.O. is his mobility and ability to move the puck up ice quickly, but the transition to the Gophers has been rough for Skjei, who had just two points in 10 games. The offensive upside is there, but the Rangers would love for him to find a mean streak to complement his 6-3 200lb body.

Earlier in the year, Leslie Treff ranked Skjei the Rangers 5th best prospect at Hockey’s Future and Corey Pronman ranked Skjei 4th at Puck Prospectus. Pronman says that Skjei is an “elite skater who is remarkable to watch” He adds that, similar to what The Hockey News wrote, Skjei isn’t really a physical player and he can be tougher on checks.

READ MORE about Brady Skjei including updates on how he has done so far at Minnesota.

Drew Claussen of the Minnesota Daily, the newspaper on the University of Minnesota Campus, says that Skjei has been solid but has a lot of room for improvement, esperically when it comes to being a consistent two-way defender.

He writes, “he’s had an ok freshman season so far, not stellar by any means. I’d say there has been times where you don’t notice him in games, which for a freshman defender isn’t terrible because it means he’s not getting blown by a lot. He did sit out a game about a month ago because of an unspecified injury but seemed to bounce back from that just fine. Recently Skjei has spent the majority of his time on the top defensive line with Nate Schmidt, who I believe to be the team’s best D-man, so that should help his progression.”

Chris Peters writes that Skjei has all the tools to play for Team USA but may not have enough seasoning and experience to make the team. Peters adds “He’s good defensively, has great size and strength and can contribute just enough offensively.”

At Blueshirts United , Gordie Clark said that he was impressed with the game that Skjei has and that as an 18 year old he is playing a very strong game.